Kusum Nair

Kusum Nair (1919–1993) was an Indian journalist, and writer on agricultural policy from the cultural side.[1] Her work challenged "agricultural fundamentalism".[2] Blossoms in the Dust, a title taken from a 1941 film, was based on a journal from 1958, when she spent a year in Indian villages.[3]

Life

She was born Kusum Prasad in Etah.[4] Her early work dealt with Indian politics, and the Bombay Naval Mutiny of 1946. A Congress Socialist Party member, she was involved in the mutiny's planning.[5]

Works

  • The Army of Occupation (1946)
  • Japan's Soviet Held Prisoners (1951)
  • Blossoms in the Dust: The Human Factor in Indian Development (1961)
  • The Lonely Furrow: Farming in the United States, Japan and India (1969)
  • Three Bowls of Rice; India and Japan: Century of Effort (1973)
  • In Defense of the Irrational Peasant: Indian Agriculture After the Green Revolution (1979)
  • Transforming Traditionally: Land and Labour Use in Asia and Africa (1983)

References

  • John Adams, Obituary: Kusum Nair (1919-1993), The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 53, No. 3 (Aug., 1994), pp. 1046–1048

Notes

  1. ^ The Agrarian History of South Asia: A Bibliographic Essay
  2. ^ Donald E. Voth, An Overview of International Development Perspectives in History: Focus on Agricultural and Rural Development(PDF), p. 24.
  3. ^ (PDF), p. 4.
  4. ^ "Hewitt's of White Oak and Collateral Families". Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
  5. ^ "Pakistani Women In A Changing Society". Archived from the original on 26 August 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2007.